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W. J. HULl-"ORD LET-OFF MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

No. 379,311. Patented Mar. 13, 1888.

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N PETERS. Pmmuxhn m hcr. WnshingiomD-(L UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICEQ- WILLIAM JESSE HULFORD, OF' LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND JOSHUA ROBINSON, OF SAME PLACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 379,311, dated March 13,1888.

Application filed September 8, 1887. Serial No. 249,111. (No modehi To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM J EssE HUL- FORD, ofLawrence,in the county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvemeutsin Let-OE Mechanism for Looms, of which the following isadescription sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being'had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is an elevation representing my improvement in use; Fig. 2, an elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1 as viewed from the left, with the warp-beam removed; Fig. 3, an end elevation of the pulley detached; Fig. 4, a vertical section taken on line 0050 in Fig. 3; Fig. 5,

s an end elevation oi'the pulley detached,the collar and plate being removed; Fig. 6,a vertical section taken on the line 3 1 in Fig. 4; Fig. 7, a view of the plate detached, and Fig. 8 a view of the collar detached.

Like letters and figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

In looms provided with the ordinary friction deviceforcontrollingthewarp-beam,consisting of a pulley, strap, and weighted lever, when for any reason it becomes necessary to turn the beam forward to slacken the cloth or web, or backward to exert a strain on the cloth, the lever and weight have to be raised until the strap ceases to act on the pulley and sustained in their elevated position-an operation inconvenient to perform and which frequently results in a delay of the work.

My invention is designed to obviate this objection and at the same time supply a simple, cheap, and effective device of this character;

'and to that end I make use of means which will be readily understood by all conversant with such matters from the followingexplanation.

In the drawings, A represents a portion of the frame-work of the loom; B,the warp-beam; O, the pn1ley,considered as a whole, and D the shaft or mandrel for the beam and pulley. The shell or body I) of the pulley is provided with a groove, (1, on its periphery, to receive the strap E, which passes over the same, one end of said strap being secured to the frame A, as shown at f, and the other to a pivoted lever, F, provided with a movable weight, g, in the usual manner. The body is constructed with but one head, z, through the center of which there is a large round opening for the reception of a sleeve, H. A centrally-disposed diaphragm, h, arfanged in parallelism with the head i, is also formed in the interior of the body I), said diaphragm being provided with a round hole at the center, which is smaller than that in the head i, for the reception ofa portion of said sleeve.

The sleeve H is round in cross-section, being provided at its inner end with aseries of horizontally-projecting clutch-teeth, It, and at its outer end with a set-screw, m, for securing it to the shaft D, which passes through a hole, a, in its center when the pulley is in use.

The body ofthe sleeve H is provided with an annular flange, 1, which rests against the head i when the sleeve is in position in the pulley. Itis also reducedin size where it passes through the diaphragm h, as shown at t,and also at c,for the reception of a retaining ring or collet, J, said ring being provided with set-screws w, for se curing it to the sleeve. The body of the sleeve is provided with a series ofratchetteeth, Z, on its periphery, and centrally pivoted between the diaphragm h and head 1' there are four pawls, 2, provided with springs 24. adapted to keep them in engagement with said teeth.

An elongated slot, 26, is formed in the diaphragm h opposite the tailpiece of each of said pawls, and disposed on the sleeve Hthere is a circular plate, K, provided on its outer face with a handle, 27, and on its inner face with four horizontally projecting pins, 29, which respectively pass through the slots 26 in the diaphragm h and rest against the outer side of the tail-pieces ofthe pawls 2, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, so that when said plate is partially rotated by its handle 27 said pins will press upon the tail-pieces of the pawls, overcome the action of their springs, and thereby disengage them from the teeth I.

The head of the beam B is provided with a fixed collet,30,having a series of teeth adapted to iutermesh with the teeth It on the sleeveH when the pulley O is in position on the shaft D.

In the use of my improvement the various parts of the pulleyO are assembled by inserting the sleeve H in the holes in the head iand diaphragm h, placing the plate K in position with the pins 29 inserted in the slots 26 and resting against the tailpieces of the pawls z, and locking the body 2), plate K, and sleeve H together by the ring J, which is placed on the outer or smaller portion of the sleeve against said plate, as shown in Fig. 4, and secured in position by the screws to. The pulley is then placed in position on the shaft D, with its teeth k intermeshing with the teeth of the collet 30 on the warp-beam B, and screwed firmly to said shaft by the set-screw m, after which the strap E is placed over the pulley and secured to the lever F, the weight g on said lever being adjusted to produce the requisite amount of friction on said pulley. The pulley G and beam B being in position on the shaft D and engaged, as shown in Fig. 1, if, now, it becomes necessary to either slacken or exert a strain on the cloth or web in the loom, the plate K is turned or partially rotated by the handle 27, thereby causing the pins 29 on said plate to force the tail-pieces of the pawls z down or inward and disengage said pawls from the teeth 1 of the sleeve H, whereupon the beam 13, collet 30, sleeve H, and shaft D may be rotated in unison independently of the shell or bodyb of the pulley O, and without the necessity of raising the weight g and lever F to permit the rotation of the beam.

I do not confine myself to the use of a strap for producing friction on the pulley O, as a cord passing around the same may be employed, said cord being connected with the lever in substantially the same manner as the strap; or any other suitable means may be employed for producing friction on the body or shell of the pulley, if desired; neither do I confine myself to constructing either the sleeve H or the collet 30 with any special number of teeth, nor to theuse of any special number of pawls 2, as one or more may be employed. The c'ollet 30 may also be formed integral with the head or hub of the warp-beam, if preferred, or any other suitable means employed to cause the beam to engage the teeth on the sleeve H.

Having thus explained m-y invention,whatl claim is 1. The sleeve H, provided with the clutchteeth It and ratchet-teeth- Z, the'body 1), provided with the spring-actuated pawls z, the plate K, provided with the pins 29 and hantile 27, and the ring J, provided with thescrew w, in combination with t-hewarpbearn B, provided with a clutch tooth or teeth, the shaft D, strap E, lever F, weight g, and screw m, substantially as described.

2. The pivoted pawls 2, provided with springs 24 and having tail'pieces extended to the rear of their pivots, the body or shell I), having the diaphragm h, provided with the slots 26 opposite said tail-pieces, and the plate K, provided with the pins 29 and handle 27, in combination with the sleeve H, provided with the ratchet-teeth Z and clutch-teeth k, and the ring J, provided with the screw w, substantially as described.

YVILLIAM JESSE HULFORD.

lVitnesses:

KATE O. FRYE, EDMUND E. BRANCH. 

